Learning from Leaders of SEND

An A-Z of What Works (and What Doesn’t) in Mainstream and Special Schools

Hilary Evans, Gill Robinson, Hilary R. Evans

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9781040619490
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Inclusive Education

This book brings together the first-hand experiences of more than fifty mainstream and special school leaders to provide both inspirational and realistic advice on inclusion and SEND. Following an A–Z format, the book is packed with practical tips and solutions to everyday challenges and opportunities facing headteachers, SENCos and other senior leaders.

A wealth of knowledge and skills are shared, covering topics from accountability and behaviour to relationships and resilience, with the intention of being meaningfully supportive during what can be challenging and intense working days. The growing complexity and demands of leadership roles, as well as the opportunities to share expertise in securing the progress of pupils who need additional or specialist support are also considered.

Distilling guidance from the authors' in-depth interviews and action research, this accessible – and often humorous – dip-in-and-out book will be a valuable read for aspiring and practising leaders in both mainstream and specialist settings.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsement
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Acronyms for Leaders in SEND – Mainstream and Special
• All about SEND
• Introduction and Rationale
• 1 ABC: Accessibility, Accountability, Adaptations, Alternative Provision (AP), Ambition, Ambitious, Annual Review, Anxiety, Aspiration, Assumption, Attendance, Authentic, Balance, Barriers, Bear Trap, Behaviour, Boss, Boundaries, Calibre, Caretaker/Site Manager, Challenge, Change, Child, Coaching, Commitment, Communication, Complexity, Confidence, Crisis, Culture, Curriculum
• 2 DEF: Decision, Demanding, Deputy, Difficult Conversations, Dilemma, Disillusion, Dissemination, Diversity, Drive, Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), Effective, Effort, Ego, Employability, Empowerment, Encourage, Enthusiasm, Equality, Ethos, Expectations, External Support, Fair, Families, Fatigue, Fear, Finance, Focus
• 3 GHI: Goals, Golden Thread, Governor, Grievance, Headteacher, Health, Hero, Holiday, Honesty, Improve, Inclusion, Influence, Innovation, Integrity, Interventions, Interview, Invest, Ivory Tower
• 4 JKL: Jealousy, Job Description, Journey, Judgement, Justification, Keep, Kindness, Knowledge, Leadership, Learn, Listen, Local Offer, Lonely, Lose
• 5 MNO: Mediation, Midday Supervisors, Mindful, Mistakes, Monitoring, Motivation, Myth, Naïve, Network, Non-Negotiable, Nurturing, Ofsted, Opinions, Opportunity, Outcome, Outreach, Overload
• 6 PQR: Passion, Perfection, Persistent Absence, Person-Centred Planning, Personable, Personalisation, Positive, Prepare, Priority, Professionalism, Quality, Questioning, Quick Fix, Reasonable Adjustments, Recruitment, Regret, Relationships, Resilience, Retention, Review, Reward
• 7 STU: Schools Forum, Self-Evaluation, SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator), SEND Information Report, SEN Support, Sense of Belonging, Skills, Small Wins, Staff, Stop, Strategic, Success, Talents, Team, Tenacity, Therapy, Time, Tolerance, Top-up Funding, Tough, Transition, Tribunal, Trust, Understand, Unexpected, Unique, Universal
• 8 VWXYZ: Vanity, Vision, Volunteers, Vulnerable, Wellbeing, Wisdom, Work, Workload, Exclusion, Exit Interview, Yes, You, Zero Tolerance
• Appendix 1 – WoW: Words of Wisdom
• Appendix 2 – Answers and Questions
• Further Information